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RJC: Democrats Strip Critical Pro-Israel Language from Platform

RJC Calls on Top Democrats to Reinstate Pro-Israel Language

Washington, D.C. (September 4, 2012) -- The Republican Jewish Coalition today expressed its outrage that the Democrats' 2012 platform strips recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel from the party's official policy document.

In 2008, the Democratic platform read, "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel." Shockingly, the 2012 platform does not mention Jerusalem at all. (1)

RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said, "In 2008, candidate Barack Obama flip-flopped on Jerusalem, telling a pro-Israel audience at the AIPAC policy conference that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel, then backtracking the next day.(2) Last July, the White House press secretary was unable to say whether Tel Aviv or Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. (3)

"Now we see the full expression of Pres. Obama and the Democrat Party's policy on Jerusalem - they don't even mention it.

"This administration is painfully out of touch with the mainstream of the Jewish community, which knows that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and that it must remain the undivided capital of the Jewish State of Israel."

demand the isolation of Hamas until that organization renounces terrorism and accepts other requirements of the peace process;

insist that any settlement of the so-called "refugees" question in a final settlement make a future Palestinian state, not Israel, the destination for Palestinian "refugees";

note that it’s not realistic to expect outcome of negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949.

Brooks continued: "We call on Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and any Democratic leaders who value the party’s traditionally firm pro-Israel stance to restore the missing pro-Israel language to their party’s platform - and especially to bring back the language declaring that Jerusalem is and will be the capital of Israel.

"This should not be a partisan issue. The vast majority of American Jews support Israel and recognize Jerusalem as its capital. It is unconscionable that the Democrat Party does not see fit to do the same."